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CNN NEWSROOM

Democratic Candidates Spar in Energetic Battle as Iowa Caucus Nears; Five Americans Freed in Iran; More Volatility Expected in Global Markets; First Female President Elected in Taiwan; Jakarta Defiant after Deadly Terror Attack; 29 Killed, 54-Plus Wounded in Burkina Faso Attack; Reports of Alleged Tennis Match Fixing. Aired 1- 2a ET

Aired January 18, 2016 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[01:00:14] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause. This is NEWSROOM L.A. We'll start with politics on the Democratic side of the U.S. presidential race.

A very pointed shift in tone in the latest debate with recent polls showing Bernie Sanders gaining on Hillary Clinton. The two are quick to clash up on a number of issues including gun control, health care and Wall Street. Both called for criminal justice reform after being asked about police violence against African-Americans.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton praised the nuclear deal with Iran while portioning that Tehran must still be carefully watched. They spoke as three Americans arrived in Germany freed in a prisoner swap with Iran. Once they had left Tehran the U.S. slapped new sanctions on some Iranian companies. We'll have more on that just ahead.

This was the last debate before the Iowa caucus just two weeks away so the energy was high. Former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley, often tried to force himself into the discussion, without much luck. Here are some highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And you've got to break up these huge financial institutions. They have too much economic power and they have too much financial power over our entire economy.

I want every kid in this country who has the ability to be able to go to a public college or university tuition-free.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have the Affordable Care Act. That is one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama, of the Democratic Party and of our country.

Our first line of defense against lone wolf attacks is among Muslim Americans. And it is not only shameful, it is dangerous for the kinds of comments you're hearing from the Republican side.

LESTER HOLT, NBC DEBATE MODERATOR: I'll give you 30 seconds to respond on the issue of lone wolves.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can I get 30 seconds, too?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Can I get 30 seconds? Can I get 10 seconds? He didn't get a lot of seconds here in this debate.

Van Jones is with me now with more on the debate. I thought this debate was all about Bernie Sanders.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

VAUSE: What he'd said in the past, how he had voted. And I thought he held his ground.

JONES: I thought he held his ground but he was under the gun this time. Usually, you know, early on for months and months and months as Hillary Clinton was kind of running against the Republicans, she acted like there was nobody else in the race, he has closed the gap with her now in the two early states and she has turning fire on him.

And I'll tell you what, on the gun rights in particular, she, as a Clinton will, found the one weakness and drove in. He is out of step with his party, on that issue and only that issue but what a big difference she was able to make with that.

VAUSE: And she drilled down on that. So let's listen to how Bernie Sanders dealt with the charges coming from Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Secretary Clinton knows that what she says is very disingenuous. I have a D-minus voting record from the NRA. I have supported from day one an instant background check to make certain that people who should not have guns do not have guns, and that includes people with criminal backgrounds, people who are mentally unstable. I support what President Obama is doing in terms of trying to close the gun show loopholes.

CLINTON: He voted for what we call the Charleston loophole. He voted for immunity from gun makers and sellers, which the NRA said was the most important piece of gun legislation in 20 years. He voted to let guns go on to Amtrak. Guns go into national parks. He voted against doing research to figure out how we can save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: She is just flaying him.

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: And what you have to understand is you are in Charleston, South Carolina, where just several months ago within blocks of where they are a guy got a gun and killed nine African-American church goers --

VAUSE: In a church.

JONES: In a church. And when she says the Charleston loophole, what is she talking about? She is talking about the idea that he -- that Bernie Sanders voted for that after a certain number of days the federal government has not been able to complete a background check, you get a gun anyway. Guess what? The guy who shot up that church?

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: Benefited from that Bernie Sanders loophole.

VAUSE: So he struggled with that and if he struggled --

JONES: And he looked like he was struggling.

VAUSE: He did -- he did not. It was a very uncomfortable moment for Senator Sanders. Gun issues for Bernie Sanders, Wall Street for Hillary Clinton. And again this is when Bernie Sanders went on the attack after Hillary Clinton, especially about her speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. And the fact that no one has been charged after the financial crisis of 2008. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: First difference is, I don't take money from big banks. I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. What I would do --

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: What I would do is understand that when you have three out of the four largest banks today bigger than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail, when you have the six largest financial institutions having assets of 60 percent of the GDP of America, it is very clear to me what you have to do.

[01:05:21] You've got to bring back a 21st century Glass-Steagall legislation and you've got to break up these huge financial institutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes. And this is one area where I think Bernie Sanders is dragging the party to the left because even Hillary Clinton's response, it was not Hillary Clinton of, say, two, three years ago was it?

JONES: No, not at all. And here he is in his element, he's strong and he threw some punches that you don't expect Bernie Sanders to throw. He said you took $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs last year. Hillary Clinton didn't respond. She blinked fast. She did not deny it. He usually doesn't go after you personally but when it comes to the

banks and taking money from the banks, he has the view that the big banks of America have too much power, they get too many appointments, they give too much dollars, and he went hard on that, Hillary Clinton had no response. It was a -- it was a shocking sort of flurry of punches from him.

VAUSE: And part of that flurry of punches, though, Hillary Clinton was wrapping herself in the Obama legacy when it came to the financial reform.

JONES: Yes. The only way she can defend herself was --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: To grab on to Obama.

JONES: To grab on to Obama and say, well, I'm doing what Obama --

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: I support Obama, I support Obama. She basically became Hillary Rodham Obama.

VAUSE: Obama. Yes . Right.

JONES: Last night.

VAUSE: And she did that a lot. I'm just wondering, how does that work, though, in an election cycle when Bernie Sanders is battling for change and she's battling for consistency, and people seem to want change?

JONES: Well, it seems to be the case. But listen, she's got to -- she's got to do what she can. She is running as a person, I am the pragmatist who can get things done.

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: He is running as the principled person who believes in the liberal legacy and wants to swing for the fences. And the reality is that there's appeal for both sides in this party. But she was in her firewall state. For her, she has to win South Carolina. She has to win Nevada. She knows she may lose in Iowa now, she may lose in New Hampshire. And that's why you saw her just standing so firm in South Carolina and grabbing on to President Obama's agenda who is so popular in that state.

VAUSE: Because, you know, as Vice President Gore how well it worked to run away from, you know, the previous two terms of a successful president.

You mentioned that she's got to win in South Carolina and the issue of inequality within the justice system is a very big issue for African- Americans, where Hillary Clinton does very well, and she brought that up tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: There needs to be a concerted effort to address the systemic racism in our criminal justice system. One out of three African- American men may well end up going to prison. That's the statistic. I want people here to think what we would be doing if it was one out of three white men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And this really explains why she has got so much support within the African-American vote.

JONES: She really does. And frankly bravo for her. I don't think I've heard a frontrunner -- she's still nationally a frontrunner -- use the term systemic racism in the criminal justice system. I think a lot of African-Americans probably stood up and cheered at that point. Because we do have a system, if you look at the numbers, is so out of balance. Whites use drugs at the same level of African - Americans. But African Americans go six times the amount to prison.

VAUSE: To jail. Yes.

JONES: And so she grabbed that. However, Bernie Sanders also stayed in that lane and he said that if a police officer kills someone in custody there should be an automatic federal level investigation.

VAUSE: And that was a big moment, too.

JONES: And that was a big moment.

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: Yes.

VAUSE: That's a big change in this country because there's not even a register of police shootings in this country.

JONES: Exactly. Listen, this whole issue was completely off the table to discuss at all even as recently as the 2012 election. You didn't hear President Obama talking about criminal justice or debating these issues. What's happened is because of these shocking videos that people around the world have seen, and because of the Black Lives Matter movement, young people marching in the streets, it's pulled the party to the I think a more sane position on the need for some kind of reform but Hillary Clinton is leading on that now.

VAUSE: Certainly on the agenda. Van, thank you for coming in, we appreciate your insights, thanks a lot.

JONES: Very good.

VAUSE: We have more now on the U.S.-Iran prisoner swap. Three Americans including the "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian, who's shown here, are on German soil right now after being released from prison in Iran and following the lifting of years of international sanctions on Tehran. Two other Americans are also freed and the U.S. has also freed seven Iranians. But nearly a dozen Iranian companies and individuals face new U.S. sanctions.

Senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has the latest now from Ramstein.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was very late in the evening on Sunday that the three American former prisoners arrived here at the Ramstein military base, and were then taken to the Landstuhl Medical Center for medical treatment.

Now before that, Jason Rezaian, who spent about one and a half years in Iranian captivity, the "Washington Post" reporter, Amir Hekmati, who was in Iranian captivity for more than four years, he was a former U.S. Marine sergeant, and Saeed Abedini, all were brought from Tehran to Geneva on a Swiss government plane that also had doctors from Switzerland on it as well.

[01:10:24] Now after arriving in Geneva, they then were taken here to the Ramstein U.S. military base and then taken to the Landstuhl medical facility which is one of America's biggest hospitals outside of the U.S. Now there at Landstuhl they will be receiving medical treatment but almost as important they will also be reunited with friends and also family members. So there certainly will be some very emotional scenes happening there at the Landstuhl Medical Center.

At this point in time, it is unclear how long these medical checks and this possible treatment are going to take. Remember especially in the case of Jason Rezaian there were a lot of concerns about his health while he was in Iranian detention. He was of course like the others in the Evin prison which is notorious for its harsh detention conditions.

It's unclear how long they're all going to stay here in Germany but afterwards they are all going to go back to the United States to then continue on with their lives.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Ramstein, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, Ali Shakeri joins us now here in Los Angeles, on a visit back home to Iran, his home country. Back in 2007 he was detained at the same prison where the "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian spent the last more than 500 days.

Ali, thank you for being with us. Let's just get this out. You're obviously not a fan of the current regime in Tehran right now, right?

ALI SHAKERI, IMPRISONED IN IRAN ON 2007: I'm always for peace and my concentration is with peace and democracy and human right. And I'm advocating as a liberal, which was spending two-thirds of my life in the United States of America for my adult life. I'm advocating my cause through possible gradual reform. And whoever is going to be more moderate or try the Iranian people to have moderation and part of the international world.

VAUSE: Do you think there has been some kind of shift, though, in Iran in recent years when it comes to this regime? Because there seems to be in a way that the moderates have the upper hand at least for now.

SHAKERI: Yes, after the -- 37 years after the revolution in 1979, usually the revolution comes with radicalism. Try to exploit the revolution. This is normal. That stage is over. Then after that invasion of American embassy that was radicalism. Chanting that the U.S. is a big Satan, that's radicalism.

VAUSE: Death to America. Yes.

SHAKERI: And death to America. And finally U.S. in 2003 it come with the radicalism calling them axis of evil. That was a time with the Iranian reformists, administration, -- excuse my accent, my apologies.

VAUSE: That's OK.

SHAKERI: Headed by Khomeini was really to make a deal and help the U.S.

VAUSE: Yes.

SHAKERI: We call him that. But now in between axe of evil and America ending up the situation, that Iran wants and is coming and is stepping giant leap step total rationalization in politics and sociology.

VAUSE: What's behind that, though? Why the sudden change?

SHAKERI: Because as I see --

VAUSE: Gradual change, I guess.

SHAKERI: You know, it's normal. It's abnormal to not change. Every revolution -- if you study every revolution in 200 years after enlightenment in Europe, you see first those things start. Then after that settles down and they find out they have to take care about -- they have to govern.

VAUSE: Right.

SHAKERI: Capturing the government is not enough. Governance is the important thing. And these election days you are watching Republican and Democrats, some of them are -- I don't want to make a name, I don't want to inside the American politics.

VAUSE: Sure.

SHAKERI: But you're chanting for irrationality, calling the leader of that country gangster, talking about -- carpet bombardment or saying about those kinds of things, irrational. But I'm hoping rationality.

VAUSE: Right. SHAKERI: The main question, why needs.

VAUSE: They need -- they need the sanctions lifted, they need to improve their economy, they're about to get this benefit from oil, right?

SHAKERI: And also U.S. needs a balance in the Middle East.

VAUSE: Yes.

SHAKERI: U.S. policy in the last 40 years was listening 100 percent and signing everything what they did in the collaboration with Saudi Arabia and the right-wing Israel. But the time for U.S. is over. They find out without having a balance is impossible. One thing tonight I would like to emphasize. As a day of Martin Luther King, week of Martin Luther King.

[01:15:02] VAUSE: Martin Luther King Day. Yes.

SHAKERI: Martin Luther King week and day, what I believe is, hate comes from fear. Fear comes from unknowing each other. And unknowing comes from the barrier. Barrier has to be broken down by dialogue. And one thing I really wish, after releasing those 12 people, seven from the Iranian side, under the legal club by U.S. and five under the cloud in Iran. I'm so happy for their family. I'm just remembering those days when I was released in 2007.

But I hope some arrests is going to be released, too.

VAUSE: Right.

SHAKERI: This is my wish and I'm talking to the Iranian government. What happened to Magnamazi, he just came for help for energy in Iran.

VAUSE: He disappeared.

SHAKERI: You know, he's arrested. And what happened to the other political prisoners and especially Mr. (INAUDIBLE) and Mr. Karubian, the others, and then (INAUDIBLE)'s wife, Mrs. (INAUDIBLE), why they are arrested? Is it time and I'm hoping and I'm seeing the signals of rational and tolerance and moderation in Iran. A person like me, I never had any intention to the Iranian government.

VAUSE: Right.

SHAKERI: I may never do, my intention to have a better life for Iranian community inside and outside. I'm wishing and I'm hoping in these days is going to happen. And this dialogue this giant leap is help it.

VAUSE: It's a start. Ali, we shall leave it there but it was good for you to come and share your experiences with us. So thank you very much.

SHAKERI: Thank you so much. Bye.

VAUSE: Take care.

Well, U.S. officials are working with Iraqi authorities by now to find three American contractors who are missing in Iraq. Iraqi security official says a group of gunmen grabbed the men from an apartment in Baghdad on Friday. The company filed a report on Sunday saying three of its staffers went missing. We're told two of the contractors are dual Iraqi American citizens.

Well, still to come here, we touched on it briefly, sliding oil prices, tumbling stocks. After the break, we'll see what's behind the Asia-Pacific market's rough start to the week.

Also ahead, China is warning of grave challenges for Taiwan after ruling pro-China party lost control of the legislature in weekend elections. We will be live in Beijing in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:21:20] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Falling oil prices and economic uncertainty in China are again weighing heavily on the markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Let's take a look at the latest numbers right now. The Nikkei down by more than 1 percent. Hong Kong down by almost 1 percent. But the Shanghai Composite up by almost 1 percent. In Australia, the ASX 200 down by almost three quarters of 1 percent.

Let's turn now to CNN Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens. He is live this hour from Hong Kong.

And, Andrew, this is ongoing concern about the price of crude now is impacting on the markets. We have Iran about to dump 500,000 barrels a day, maybe as many as two million barrels a day if they have their way. So what will that ultimately mean for what are already rock bottom prices for oil?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, the mantra in the market at the moment, John, is lower for longer. And you can see why, given where oil has come from, down 75 percent from its peaks in June and continuing to fall.

On Friday it was down another 6 percent. As you see there, a little bit of a breather today, and the Asian trading is up a bit, but it was down one stage further 4 percent at the early going here. Has come back a bit. But all the pressure seems to be pointing towards a lower, lower, lower prices.

Goldman Sachs in fact is predicting $20 a barrel. Standard Chartered going on further and predicting $10 a barrel. And it really does seem that this is a one way there at the moment. As you say, Iran having all sanctions lifted means it can pump immediately an extra 500,000 barrels of oil into the global market. In fact it got about 20-plus of oil tankers sitting off the coast of Iran full to the gills of crude oil, about two million barrels on each, both waiting to go off the market, John.

So that -- according to the people I've been speaking to today, Iran can very quickly ramp production by that 500,000 a barrel. Beyond that, it gets a little bit more difficult but certainly it's not beyond them.

VAUSE: And that's obviously having a pretty big impact on the markets in the Middle East. They took a huge hit over the weekend. Is that flowing through the Asian markets? Can we expect that to continue to flow through to Europe and then maybe the U.S. as well?

STEVENS: Yes. Just take a look at those markets in the Middle East. They were trading on Sunday, that's the start of their trading week there, and they were down significantly. 6.5 percent which is a little strange when you think that everything's pointed towards Iran's sanctions being lifted but the reaction there, obviously, is one of complete surprise in the Middle East that it happened and that was the result.

Obviously these are very oil intensive indices. But down there, will it flow through to the markets? It certainly won't help sentiment. We've seen here in Asia today, it's pretty much red arrows across the board. That's following the Dow which was following the oil price on Friday so yes, they are falling in Asia.

When you talk about the Shanghai market being up, that tends to operate in a vacuum, Shanghai. So what moves investors in Shanghai does not necessarily connect to the global economy. Will this flow through to European, most likely the U.S. markets are going to be closed for the Martin Luther King holiday today so we'll have a delay there. But certainly at this stage, you know, they're taking a fairly negative view of that oil price and obviously there's built into that expectations that it will go lower.

VAUSE: Andrew, thank you as always. Andrew Stevens, live this hour in Hong Kong.

We should note the Tehran market was up, though. Thanks, Andrew.

Taiwan is ushering in a new political era. The island elected its first female president over the weekend. Tsai Ing-wen won more than 56 percent of the vote. She leads the opposition democratic progressive party. Also for the first time the ruling pro-China KMT Party lost control of the legislature.

[01:25:02] Chinese state media say that will pose a grave challenge to Taiwan's already tenuous relationship with Beijing.

CNN's Will Ripley live this hour from Beijing with more on this.

So, Will, reading between the lines here, what we're hearing from state media there in China, where does Beijing really stand right now on this election?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, you don't even have to read between the lines, John, because they say that Taiwan veering towards independence is a poisonous idea. They say that this poses great challenges for cross-strait relations. Already Beijing has long viewed Taiwan, as you mentioned, as kind of a renegade, breakaway island. It has governed itself since 1949. But the Chinese government still considers Taiwan part of its territories. There's a lot of disagreement about that.

In the last eight years, though, the KMT party and the communist party here have been -- have been getting along. There was that historic meeting last year between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Ma Ying-jeou. That was the first time that had happened since the breakaway after the war.

And, you know, China's promise to Taiwan was that increased relations would lead to economic prosperity but it hasn't worked out that way. The Taiwanese economy is kind of limping along, they have about 1 percent growth last year, they contracted the second half last year, and of course we have talked extensively about China's ongoing economic issues and their economy contracting as well, so this is embarrassing, it's infuriating.

And keep in mind, China still hasn't ruled out interventional militarily. They have islands -- they have missiles pointed at Taiwan. They said they will re-take that province by force if necessary. But probably a more likely outcome, analysts say, would be economic sanctions, limiting mainland Chinese tourism and other measures to try to hurt the Taiwan's economy even further if they do just think about trying to break away and become more independent, John.

VAUSE: Will, the size of the mandate for the DPP is pretty big in the scheme of things. Does that at least for a moment give Beijing pause here in any way?

RIPLEY: Well, 56 percent of the vote and it shows that the DPP has really tapped into the youth in Taiwan who are really calling for more independence. A lot of Taiwanese young people say that they don't consider themselves Chinese, even though the two -- you know, that they share a common language, they share a common history but Taiwanese younger people especially believe that their future is an independent nation which is very unsettling for the Chinese government.

Just to show you how sensitive this whole issue is, there was that K- Pop star, Chou Tzuyu, who was on television basically apologizing for waving a Taiwanese flag on a reality show. She had to make a deep bow. She's talked about the one-China policy and she's had to cancel her appearances in China over the next several months to reflect on their behavior.

A lot of speculation that this was a forced apology, also could have been a business decision because China obviously a very large market for this K-pop star. But it just goes to show you how Beijing is doing whatever it can to try to squelch this idea among youth of an independent Taiwan.

VAUSE: Will, thank you. Will Ripley live this hour in Beijing with cross-strait politics, always not clear exactly what's going on but this time it's a little different, I guess. Thanks, Will.

Last week's deadly terror attacks in Jakarta threatened to rock the city. In fact you'll see how the Indonesian capital is not giving in just yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:50] VAUSE: And welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

The headlines for this hour --

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: The death toll has risen to four from last week's terror attack in Jakarta, Indonesia. At least 25 others were injured when militants set up explosives near a Starbucks and shot as people as the fled the scene. Four gunmen were also killed. Police have arrested 12 other suspects. They say one of them received a payment from a militant who leads a faction of ISIS.

Many in Jakarta, though, are defiant, refusing to give in to fear after the attack.

Senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look at this scene in downtown Jakarta. It feels like a festival.

(SINGING)

(MUSIC)

WATSON: But this is not a special holiday. This is just your average Sunday morning in the Indonesian capital. It is part of an initiative called Car Free Day in which the city shuts down vehicular traffic on main boulevards running through this teeming, steamy city and opens it up to joggers, cyclers and musicians.

(SINGING)

WATSON: What's all more remarkable is these families are out enjoying the open streets just a few hundred miles away from where ISIS militants carried out brazen daylight terror attacks.

(SINGING)

How are you feeling this Sunday?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Sunday, I'm quite happy because you look everybody there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care. We don't care about the terrorism.

WATSON: And nobody's afraid right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't think so.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no one afraid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not afraid.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ivan Watson joins us from Jakarta with the very latest on the investigation.

Ivan, I understand you have new information about the investigation.

[01:35:54] WATSON: Well, we do know that the death toll now has tragically risen to four dead. And the police now are saying that there were only four attackers, not five. They basically mixed up the body of one of the attackers with somebody who proved to be a victim.

They have arrested at least 12 people in connection with this. And they have identified the man that they believe is the mastermind, a 32-year-old Indonesian from the city of Solo (ph), who used to run an Internet cafe there. His name is Baru Narim (ph). He served several years in prison after a conviction of possession of ammunition. Baru Narim (ph) is believed to have traveled to Syria, to the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, in 2015. A close friend of his that we interviewed does not believe that Baru Narim (ph) is old enough, is senior enough to be the leader of ISIS in Indonesia but he does believe he could be a point of reference and inspiration for many young ISIS supporters here in Indonesia. Baru Narim (ph) had been publishing blogs how to make suicide vests, for example or remote- controlled detonators. And Indonesian police say that one of the suspects they arrested in the last couple of days did receive several Western Union wire transfers of money from Baru Narim (ph) -- John?

VAUSE: Ivan Watson, thank you. Ivan Watson live this hour in Jakarta.

As Australian surgeon and his wife are missing after they were kidnapped in Burkina Faso on Friday. Dr. Ken Elliot and his wife, Jocelyn, both in their 80s, moved to the northern town of Jabu, in the 1972. He performs 150 surgeries each month in that area. It is not clear if the abduction is connected to Friday's attack in Burkina Faso's capital, which left 28 people dead.

In the aftermath of that terror attack, Burkina Faso is observing three days of mourning. The death toll has reached 29 people now.

The siege appeared well planned with some of the attackers going to the hotel and mingling with the guests. David McKenzie has new details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The terrible toll of the attack by al Qaeda affiliates in Burkina Faso is becoming clearer. At least 28 have been killed, say authorities, including six Canadians, French, Ukrainians, Swiss, and one American, a missionary, Mike Riddering (ph), who was in the country to help women and orphaned children. Those who survived the attack, many of them injured, are still reeling.

(GUNFIRE)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Fiery scenes, both shocking and horribly familiar. Authorities say at least four heavily armed attackers, two of them women, storming a cafe popular with Westerners in Burkina Faso's capital late Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): It was horrible because everyone was panicked and was laying down on the floor. There was blood everywhere. They were shooting at people at point blank. The sound of the detonation was so loud. We could hear them talking and they were walking around and kept shooting at people that seemed alive.

MCKENZIE: Officials in Burkina Faso say it was a complex attack. Some terrorists posing as tourists during the day before striking at night, moving from the cafe to a popular hotel across the street.

Burkina Faso forces joined by French Special Forces flown in from Mali and American intelligence support.

Hours into the bloody siege, the security operation moved in and the shooting stopped but the attack left dozens dead from at least 18 countries. More than 120 hostages were freed and many still injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): They came in. We were all lying on the ground. And they shot at everybody. Maybe I was lucky it was just my arm.

MCKENZIE: The attacks allegedly claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and executed by al Marabatur, led by this man, the notorious one-eyed sheik, Muktar Belmuktar.

(SHOUTING)

MCKENZIE: The same groups behind the deadly Radisson Hotel attack in Mali late last year.

(on camera): The president of Burkina Faso has thanked Americans and the French for assisting in the security operation. And the country is going through three days of national mourning.

But questions about al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Marabatur, the two groups that claimed responsibility. They are also behind the recent attack in Mali on a hotel using similar tactics, sparking fear that al Qaeda in the region could be on the rise.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:39:49] VAUSE: A short break here. When we come back, professional tennis season is off to a rocky start. We'll break down some explosive reports of alleged match-fixing. Back in a moment.

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VAUSE: Tennis is now back. The Australian Open is underway in Melbourne. Top men's player, Novak Djokovic, has won his first match as he starts the bid for a calendar grand slam. That's means a clean sweep of the four major tournaments in a given year. Top female player, Serena Williams, won her match as well.

Also of note this year, the Australian tennis legend, Lleyton Hewitt, will hand up his racket, finishing his career in the 20th appearance at the Aussie Open.

But the season is opening amid possible scandal. The four governing bodies of tennis are strongly rejecting explosive new reports of widespread match fixing in professional tennis. They are responding to the BBC and "Buzzfeed News" which both say they've acquired secret internal files implicating 16 players ranked in the world's top 50 over the last decade, including grand slam winners. No players have been named. And the ATP, WTA grand slam board and ITF all deny allegations of a cover-up.

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CHRIS KERMODE, ATP EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated. And while the BBC and "Buzzfeed" reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will respond to any new information, and we always do.

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VAUSE: Now players are suspected of throwing matches in return for payments, including some games that were played at the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon.

Earlier, former Wimbledon champ, Pat Cash, gave me his take on the allegations.

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[01:45:50] PAT CASH, FORMER WIMBLEDON CHAMPION (voice-over): They are red hot on this matching fixing stuff. And yeah, there has been stuff that has happened. There were certainly massive rumors around about 10 years ago. They have set up units to deal with this issue. And they understand that tennis is a prime candidate, actually the perfect sport, to do match-fixing in. There's no other team members you have to deal with, no other team members you have to talk to, one on one, unless it's doubles, of course, pretty much head to head and stuff you can match-fix.

But the allegations, this is all hearsay. These alleged players that have been sort of flagged up, that's because they're monitoring. They're monitoring what's going on. And if they see some activity, then they go and investigate them. That's not to say that they've -- they've stopped the investigation and just pushed it under the table or under the mat. They realize there's no grounds on this. So there are incidences no doubt in a lesser, lower tournaments that there have been match-fixing. And there will be some in the future. People will try certain things. But I'm absolutely convinced that here at the Australian Open inside Rod Laver Arena, this is old sort of news and there's absolutely -- there's very little proof to any of these reports that -- this news report.

VAUSE: Pat, according to BBC and "Buzzfeed," at least eight of 16 players under suspicion in playing at this year's Australian Open. Does that cast a shadow over what's happening in Melbourne right now?

CASH: There's a difference than suspicion. If there's activity at the betting sights, activity going on, looking at the players, the way the money's being put on them, they may be being looked at, but it doesn't mean that these players are match-fixing and they've been allowed to play. Look, it's one thing having sort of a -- it's basically a rumor or something, to players to look at that maybe let's have a look at these guys see what's going on. But they're certainly red hot on this. The players are warned consistently about this. There's a lot of talk about it. And they know that, you know, that you can't get away with this sort of stuff. So I just think that there are players here at the Australian Open that are doing match- fixing, it's just ridiculous. There's just no proof whatsoever that these players are match-fixing her. And if they're under some sort of suspicion, investigation, that's a good thing and we'll see if anything comes out of it in the future.

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VAUSE: That was former Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, talking a few minutes ago.

Sean Penn is calling his "Rolling Stone" article on drug lord, Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman, a failure. The actor says the interview was intended to start a conversation about the policy of the war on drugs, but most of the news coverage on Penn's story was about el Chapo's confessions and how Penn was about to get the meeting.

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SEAN PENN, ACTOR & ACTIVIST: We all want this drug problem to stop. And if you are on the moral right, or on the far left, just as many of your children are doing these drugs, just as many of your brothers and sisters, your mothers and fathers, your teachers at school are doing these drugs. Just as many. And how much time have they spent in the last weeks since this article came out talking about that? 1 percent?

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VAUSE: And also he suggested jealousy from journalists may have played a role in what has been very critical news coverage of his story.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, David Bowie's farewell album is hitting all the right notes with his fans. We'll tell you how it's doing on the "Billboard" sales ranking. That's up next.

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[01:52:59] VAUSE: A bad winter storm has dumped about a half a meter of snow over eastern Europe over the weekend, shutting down schools, disrupting hundreds of flights.

Let's get the latest from our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri -- Pedram?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John, good seeing you.

Yeah, a pretty serious storm system that's really disrupted a large- scale area across Europe. Some of the video, showing you what the folks have been dealing with in parts of Romania. Driving down the highway, blizzard like conditions. You get to a point where officials say, no go, no more room to go out here. As far as the amount of snow that's come down, an incredible amount. We'll show you exactly what's transpired. Keep in mind, you look at your calendar, you know it's the middle, the later portion of January. Across the northern hemisphere, climatologically speaking, this is the dead of winter, the coldest time of they year. It doesn't take much to produce significant snow event. The air temperatures, as far as the color contours indicated across Europe, you slice it in half, look at the eastern side here. The purples, the blues, those are indicative to temperatures 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Certainly conducive to heavy snow showers. Parts of Sophia and Bulgaria saw significant accumulations. The mayor of Sophia telling people and encouraging people to get out on the streets and help the officials to remove some of the snow that's come down. Upwards of 40 centimeters coming down on parts of the city. In Bucharest, about 27 centimeters. In Serbia, in excess of 60 centimeters of snowfall in just the last couple of days. Look at these temperatures. Berlin, minus 2 for high temperatures. 3 above is what's considered normal. In Moscow, 11 below. 6 below is what is considered normal. You think about a place like Moscow, in January, you know it's cold. But when it's nearly twice as cold as what it should be for this time of year, it's a big deal. Certainly, it's the case when you look at snow accumulations across parts of Turkey as well. Istanbul could see upwards of 10 centimeters over the next couple of days. You look at the disruptions, 225 flights have been cancelled or delayed out of Istanbul so far on Monday. Tokyo also getting in on some snow showers. One of our producers, Yokoto Yakasuki, across parts of Japan, in Tokyo, sharing with us her journey off to work. The subway system, the trains also being significantly disrupted. A few centimeters came down across Tokyo, but much of it, John, came down in the early morning hours. A city, a metropolitan of about 38 million people, big time disruptions, even in parts of Japan with the snow showers -- John?

[01:55:17] VAUSE: It is the season. I guess the snow is finally here.

Thanks, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Thank you. Yeah.

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VAUSE: David Bowie's final album "Blackstar" is topping U.S. charts. It debuted at number one on the "Billboard" chart, giving the singer his first number-one album in the United States. It is his 9th album to hit the top 10. "Blackstar" was released on Bowie's 60th birthday, two days before he died from cancer. Some say it was his parting gift to his fans.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

Stay with us. The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett after a very short break. Thanks for watching.

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[02:00:06] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Iran is off the West's nuclear black list but it's not off the hook.